The idea, of course, is to twist commercials like Old Milwaukee beer’s Swedish Bikini Team, the epitome of ogling as male-spectator sport. But even in the postfeminist, post-Bobbitt era, a deeper question lingers: are these diet coquettes doing women a favor? Surprisingly, few women find turnabout-is-fair-play liberating. “Crude reverse sexism is no better than crude ‘Hey, get a look at her headlights’ sexism,” says Adweek media critic Barbara Lippert. On one level, such sentiments reflect how much political correctness has over-evolved. Yet for all the talk of equality, the ad may point to a wider gulf between the sexes. “Men ogle conspicuously-they want to be seen.” says Ted Littleford, executive creative director at New York’s FCB/Lever Katz Partners. “These women are ogling secretly; they have a distance that separates them. It’s not a glass ceiling but a glass window.”
Madison Avenue had a brief thing for role-reversal ads in the late ’80s, but ever since the Swedish Bikini Team took a permanent powder a few years back, male sex objects have really gotten hot. Breasts still sell, but these days, it’s a safe bet that the nipples on display belong to men. Diet Coke’s fiercest rival isn’t Marky Mark but a Hyundai ad called “Parking Lot.” In it, two women scoff at men who drive racy sports cars. “Must be compensating for a shortcoming,” one says. Not so for the megahunk in the modest Elantra. “I wonder what he’s got under his hood?” Why the heat? SaYs Lippert: “The more de-babed we get, the more men have to become the babes because we need babes in advertising.”
Sounds great for men. After all, isn’t it every guy’s fantasy to have a woman-or women-rip his clothes off? “Intellectually, men can say what’s fair for us is fair for them. But they get a little nervous in practice,” says Ray Browne, editor of the journal of Popular Culture. Besides, says Boston ad expert Jean Kilbourne, men and women gape for different reasons. “Men pay more attention to women’s bodies, and women pay more attention to men’s status symbols.”
For advertisers. though, the goal isn’t social commentary, but to cut through the clutter. It’s not easy. “When you do something that has an unusual twist, people get so involved with it they don’t pay attention to the product,” says Connecticut marketing consultant Jack Trout. Here’s a quiz: name the brand sipped by the lovers in those romantic coffee ads.
